Nickel(II) cluster-based mixed-cation coordination polymer synthesized from 2-mercaptobenzoic acid and its...

High-nuclearity metal clusters have received considerable attention not only because of their diverse architectures and topologies, but also because of their potential applications as functional materials in many fields. To explore new types of clusters and their potential applications, a new nickel(II) cluster-based mixed-cation coordination polymer, namely poly[hexakis[μ₄-(2-carboxylatophenyl)sulfanido]di-μ₃-chlorido-tri-μ₂-hydroxido-octanickel(II)sodium(I)], [Ni₈NaCl₂(OH)₃(C₇H₄O₂S)₆]_n, 1, was synthesized using nickel chloride hexahydrate and mercaptobenzoic acid (H₂mba) as starting reactants under hydrothermal conditions. The material was characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD), Fourier transform IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, powder X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. SCXRD shows that 1 consists of a hexanuclear nickel(II) [Ni₆] cluster, dinuclear Ni^II nodes and a mononuclear Na^I node, resulting in the formation of a complex covalent three-dimensional network. In addition, a tightly packed NiO/C&S nanocomposite is fabricated by sintering the coordination precursor at 400 °C. The uniform nanocomposite consists of NiO nanoparticles, incompletely carbonized carbon and incompletely vulcanized sulfur. When used as a supercapacitor electrode, the synthesized composite shows an extra-long cycling stability (>5000 cycles) during the charge/discharge process.